Birthday Surprises, Part 2
by TardisBluePen
Summary: Not really related to my other story, but anyway. Written for Ellen Page's birthday today...Arthur has a special birthday surprise for Ariadne, that's all you need to know. Better than my last story, I swear.


_Hello again! I know this is called "Part 2" but it really has no connection to my last story, I am just lacking a creative title. :P_

_HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ELLEN PAGE!_

_(*)_

Ariadne didn't know exactly what it was that woke her at 4:15 in the morning, but she was immediately aware that the warm weight beside her was missing. This surprised her slightly. It wasn't always unusual for Arthur to get up in the early hours of the morning, but Ariadne was normally given a warning beforehand. And because she knew that he didn't currently have any work to do-and therefore, no reason to be up so early-the girl was left wondering what was so important that it dragged her Point-Man out of bed at this time.

Grumbling slightly, she crawled out of bed and her eyes attempted to see into the dark surroundings. As her eyes adjusted, she could make out no moving figures, no objects out of place, and nothing out of the ordinary.

Where was Arthur and what was he doing?

_He had better not be working._ she thought to herself. Today was her birthday, and he had promised to clear the day for whatever she wanted to do. She was sure he wouldn't let her down on that.

Fumbling for her bedside table, her fingers found her totem and tipped it over. It clunked reassuringly and rolled to the table's edge. She clutched it up, stifled a yawn, and moved oozily out of the room.

She quickly and quietly searched every room in their small flat, but still saw no signs of life. Making her way to the kitchen without any expectations to find anything, she noticed that a very small, dim light was on. She paused behind the stretch of wall, and peeked around the corner.

She couldn't see much, but her ears picked up the clattering of a spoon against a bowl, and her nose quickly brought in the smell of...cake batter? Placing a questioning look on her face, she emerged into the kitchen.

"Arthur?"

He whipped around, clearly surprised that she was up, and even more so that she had caught him. He was indeed holding a mixing bowl with a wooden spoon, and he looked guilty.

"Ari." It was just a statement; for once, he was at a loss for words. "Why are you up?" he asked her, once he had regained his voice.

She folded her arms over her chest. "What exactly are you doing?" she answered his question with her own, and she thought he owed her an answer more than she did him.

Arthur grinned. He was awfully quick at changing his emotions. "I'm not going to tell you."

"I think you should." she challenged him, and she took a step forward.

"Nope." he denied, and he turned his back on her to set down the bowl and continued to mix. "Unless you stop asking questions and go back to sleep and let me finish, it's unlikely you're ever going to find out."

The Architect let out a low growl. "You can't possibly expect me to go back to sleep, knowing you're keeping a secret from me."

Arthur shot her a smirk over his shoulder. "Well, maybe you should go sit down and wait, then."

She immediately pulled out one of the kitchen chairs and set herself down, glaring at him. Arthur bit back a chuckle and stepped away from his mysterious business at the counter to move over to her. He kneeled down right in front of her, making it extremely difficult to take a peek at the counter over his shoulder.

"I meant maybe you should go sit down over there." And he nodded toward the couch in their living room, which was very conveniently placed facing away from the kitchen area. Ariadne huffed and stayed firmly put.

"Well, you're being difficult." Arthur said simply, but there was a small smirk on his lips.

"I'm being difficult?" She was insulted, he had some nerve telling her _she_ was being difficult. "Why won't you just tell me what you're doing?"

"Cos it was meant to be a surprise." he stated softly, looking into her eyes. Ariadne said nothing and a quizzical expression settled on her face.

"A surprise for what?"

Arthur just gave her a little grin and didn't answer. She sighed.

"Fine." With that, she got up, moved to the couch, and flopped down on it. Arthur appeared over the back of the couch, grinning down at her.

"Don't worry, Ari, you'll find out soon enough." And he disappeared again.

She sighed and rolled onto her side, vowing to stay awake until he was done. Whatever he was doing had better be amazing.

**(*)**

"Ari?"

She opened her eyes to find him kneeling next to her. He smiled. "I'm done."

It took her a couple seconds to remember what he was talking about, but then she shot up, her eyes wide with wonder and excitement.

It was now 5:20 a.m.

Ariadne yawned and sat up to peek over the top of the couch. "So, what were you doing?"

There was a short pause. "Are you sure you don't want to get some more sleep first, this wasn't meant to...happen until morning...later." Arthur explained.

"Arthur, I'm fine, and I told you, I'm not going to get any sleep until I find out what you're doing!" she said eagerly, turning back to face him. Arthur bit back his retort, fighting the urge to tell her that _had_ just been asleep, and therefore, her statement was false. It was no use fighting her on this, she was as stubborn as he was precise. Instead, he beamed at her and stood. When she tried to follow, he placed his hands firmly on her shoulders and held her down.

"One more thing I need you to do for me." he said.

She grinned and looked up at him expectantly, much more eager to obey now that she was about to get what she wanted.

"Stay here, close your eyes, and don't open them until I tell you to." he instructed, and she complied, snapping her eyes shut right away.

A sweet, delicious scent invaded her nostrils, and Ariadne was itching to open her eyes, but she kept them tightly planted shut, remembering her promise to Arthur. But she didn't know how much longer she could wait.

"Open your eyes."

Arthur was once again kneeling in front of her, holding a cupcake with a single candle in it. When she looked at the coffee table behind him, she saw two trays of cupcakes, each one holding a dozen. Each cupcake had a solitary candle in it, and they were all lit. Leave it to Arthur to make 24 cupcakes for her 24th birthday, instead of settling on just one. Her eyes moved back to him. She was speechless.

"Happy birthday, Ari." he said, holding out the little cake for her. She took a bite.

"Arthur, I had no idea you could bake." Her voice was somewhere between shock and amusement. He raised an eyebrow at her as he settled next to her on their couch.

"How could you not know that? You've spent the last three months living with me." His voice was a mixture of amusement and insult. She giggled and looked up at him. There was a smear of frosting across her lips.

"Thank you, Arthur. This is the best present anyone's ever given me." She set aside her half-eaten cupcake and gave him a soft kiss on his cheek.

"Really?"

"Well..." she hesitated. "I did get a big party at a bar with some nice male _dancers_ for my 21st..." she admitted. Arthur looked shocked.

"Now that's something I don't remember reading when I looked up your records..."

Ariadne giggled. "Good, I'm glad you didn't. That would have been embarrassing." She blushed. "Anyway, this is much more...intimate. And very wonderful."

Arthur smirked. "Well, you're welcome. Oh, don't forget to make a wish."

Ariadne thought hard for a minute, and then leaned over and blew out the candles. Then she snuggled down next to Arthur, and his arm wrapped around her, pulling her close.

"What did you wish for?" he asked.

"I can't tell you." she replied, "it would ruin the wish." She said no more, and he didn't push the matter, and the two of them settled against each other on the couch, still inhaling the wonderful smell of the two dozen cupcakes.

**(*)**

An hour later, Arthur abruptly woke up. His neck was stiff. He knew it had been a bad idea to fall asleep on the couch. He turned to look at his architect. _His_ beautiful architect. She was still asleep. He smiled. She could sleep through anything. Rubbing his aching neck softly, he picked her up bridal style, and walked them into the bedroom.

"Mmmf." She stirred.

"Hey beautiful." he whispered.

She grinned, her eyes still closed, and pressed herself closer to him. "You wanna know what I wished for?" she asked.

"Mhm." He lay her down on their bed and then settled down behind her, his arms wrapping around her and pulling her flush against his body.

"Nothing." she told him softly. "Everything is absolutely perfect."

Arthur grinned, and pressed a soft kiss to her head. "Happy birthday, Ariadne."

_(*)_

_Can everyone say "aaaaaaww"? Aha. Hope you all enjoyed this, please review and let me know! :D_


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